Archive for
May, 2009

You know you have to write something. You stare at the page and your mind drifts to everything from what you’re going to make for dinner to what you’re going to do when you finish your word count for the day. If you finish. When writer’s block strikes, that “if” seems more realistic than “when.”

At one time or another just about everyone experiences writer’s block. For me I’ve found the best way to combat it is to write. That might sound a little crazy. After all the problem is that at the moment you can’t write. I’ve found that for me it’s usually not that I really can’t write, but I simply can’t work on a particular story at that time. If I place my current project aside and work on something else, the creative juices start flowing again. Usually I write something that’s purely for pleasure and that I have no plans of showing to anyone. For me writing has always been a form of stress relief and an enjoyable experience. Working on something just for fun helps me relax and formulate new ideas that usually get me back on track so I can finish the particular scene that was giving me trouble in my work-in-progress. I don’t like to write my stories when I’m feeling “forced” because I believe it will come through in my work, so for me it’s worth it to go off and write something else, even for a short time. Then I can return to my work-in-progress and give the story and characters the focus and genuine emotion they deserve.

Other things that help me with writer’s block are taking a shower or exercising. I’ve found that almost anything that relieves stress combats writer’s block. Possibly a hot fudge sundae? Well, maybe not. . .

What are some of your favorite ways to overcome writer’s block?

Kate Hill is vegetarian New Englander who loves writing romantic fantasies. When she’s not working on her books, she enjoys reading, exercising, and researching vampires and Viking history. Visit her online at http://www.kate-hill.com .

I got a Sony E-Book Reader a little over a year ago. I did some research before I decided on the Sony. I love my Sony reader. It has saved me a lot of money on ink. I used to print out my e-books to read. Anyway I walk with my reader on the train when I go to my day job. Before no one paid me any mind when I pulled it out. But lately more and more people seem to know what the e-book reader is. I’ve gotten questions and had very interesting discussions on what the reader can do and what types there are.

It is fun letting people know about it and my opinions on the other types of readers. I do make sure they know I have only used the Sony so my opinions on others is limited. Usually the first question I get is how many books I can hold on it. When I tell them they look shocked then intrigued. That is one of the things that drew me in. The amount of books I can have on the reader and not have to worry about breaking my shoulder. Imagine carrying around 100 paperback books. Oy.

It is very awesome when I get questions about my reader. The awareness of e-books and readers are growing and it is great. So as I ride my train to work and anyone asks me about my e-book reader I tell them about it and all the books out there to read. I take my reader when I travel and it saves me having to worry about the price of overweight of packing paper books into my bag. Now don’t get me wrong I still love the feel of paper books in my hands (that gives me an idea for a future blog. LOL). I still buy lots of books in paperback. Mostly from series I have started and mainstream published books. I use my reader for mainly books from various e-pubs I frequent.

I’ve also noticed more and more people using readers on the train and when I travel. I’ve even compared my reader to others types. On the train once I exchanged my reader with someone who had a Kindle. We checked each others readers out and then others noticed and asked about them. It turned out to be a very informative and fun conversation.

So, what prompts an author to write historicals? Is it their love of research? Is it a secret desire to live vicariously in the past? Perhaps it’s as simple as wanting to connect to their roots. Regardless, research is one of the key elements in a finely crafted historical romance.

For me, it issn’t so much the research that provides a “turn on” but the unearthing of “bones,” those little known facts that provide food for thought. Research isn’t my favorite cup of tea. I like it, don’t mind doing it, but good research is time-consuming and takes away from writing time. My reward for digging up facts is finding tidbits of information that I can work into a scene with effortless prose. I hate reading a story and having the action stop so the author can “enlighten” me with endless facts that while pertinent, really had no bearing on the success of the story. The truly remarkable authors are able to sprinkle these facts into the storyline without interrupting the flow.

I have a new romance coming out in August. I loved working on this book because the possibilities were endless. On the Silver Edge of Time isn’t just a time travel. The book also includes fantasy. For the premise to work, I had to research a lot about Vikings. Along the way, I discovered fun facts. For example, I found a reference to toothpaste and how these ancient travelers kept their teeth clean with a mixture of finely ground cuddle fish bones and mint leaves. I leaned that the term “corn” referred to grain in general and did not pertain to the corn we eat in America. Contrary to popular belief, not all funerals involved setting a ship afloat and lighting it afire. In some cases, the Viking was buried in a hole big enough to house his yacht and precious possessions. In my bid to make this the best book I could possibly craft, I read several Viking romances written by others. While doing so helped me get into the right frame of mind, I knew that I couldn’t rely on others to provide the world-building facts I desired. Many beginning authors make the mistake of basing their story on the research provided in similar genre books. Bad move. What if that author’s research is inaccurate? Or even worse, the use of these facts limits your story to only these facts.

Along the way to publication of my first novel, SOMETHING ABOUT HER, rejection was a part of the game. After the second agent-requested-partial-turned-rejection, I found myself turning to the internet in search of other sad souls who felt the same disappointment, depression and urge to curl up inside a big, fuzzy blanket and never come out.

I had become a member of the Illustrious Rejection Club, a dark warehouse with a dreary facade and an old, wooden carved sign barely hanging on for dear life by one hook. You certainly do not want to walk through those doors. You want to be in that shiny, sparkly building just a little further down the street with the flashy, neon sign pronouncing all who enter “Published and Proud.” If you’re lucky, you get the hand stamp that never comes off.

However, once a rejection letter has crossed your desk, you are a part of The Illustrious Rejection Club. You have no choice but to walk inside those heavy double doors.

And when you do? The doors shut behind you, and immediately, Gloria Gaynor’s voice seems to burst from the black walls to tell you You will survive. You realize you hate this song, and wonder if The Illustrious Rejection Club is simply a pseudonym for Hell. But still, you find yourself walking to the beat…and even (under your breath so no one could possibly hear you) singing along …”you think I’d crumble, you think I’d lay down and die…Oh no, not I.”

You keep walking. The hallway seems endless, just like the length of time you know it will take before you would be considered good enough to serve drinks in the Published and Proud building. As you meander your way through the turns and twists, you hear inklings of life. Voices. Laughter even.

Laughter? In the Rejection Club? No one should be laughing. We should all be sitting in our respective corners, nursing a pound of melted chocolate.

Intrigued, you step a little livelier. And as you round that last corner, amazement and awe fill you. For here, in this room where you now belong, are hundreds (tens of hundreds, even) of writers just like you. They mill about, chatting with each other, sharing stories. In one corner of the room, they shoot darts at their respective rejection letters and cheer for the bulls eyes. In another corner is a giant chocolate fountain available to dip any number of food items in. Hmm. If this is Hell, it’s not so bad.

The minute you step into the room, every gaze is directed at you. The heavy spotlight of recognition doesn’t sit well, until you focus on the smiles. They beckon you in to join them.

And you recognize those faces.

Meg Cabot hefts a US Postal Bag she keeps the many rejection letters she received and waves at you.

Stephen King lounges on a couch and points up at the spike he hammered into the wall, full of rejection slips.

Julia Quinn gestures you to sit next to her at the Hot Chocolate Bar and tells you that in her rejections, “one said that the story was great but the characters were obvious, another said that the characters were great but the story was lame. And another said that the characters were likable but the story was too simplistic and the heroine was not believable (somewhat inexplicably despite the fact that the characters were likable.) So there was no big consensus on why I wasn’t worth publishing.” (1)

As you get up and move around the room, you see Nora Roberts. The button on her lapel says “Years of rejections.” This from the first woman to be inducted into the RWA Hall of Fame. Whose last million books have been best sellers.

Perhaps this room isn’t so bad a place to be after all.

At the back of the room is a large mural. Curious, you work your way toward it. The wall is full of reviews and rejections for names that have you dropping your jaw:

“Shakespeare’s name, you may depend on it, stands absurdly too high and will go down. He had no invention as to stories, none whatever. He took all his plots from old novels, and threw their stories into a dramatic shape, at as little expense of thought as you or I could turn his plays back again into prose tales.”— Lord Byron, letter to James Hogg 1814

“Mr. F. Scott Fitzgerald deserves a good shaking … The Great Gatsby is an absurd story, whether considered as romance, melodrama, or plain record of New York high life.” – Saturday Review of LiteratureMary Higgins Clark was rejected on Journey Back To Love, 1962, with “We found the heroine as boring as her husband had.”

Jean Auel, author of The Clan of Cave Bear was told, “We are very impressed with the depth and scope of your research and the quality of your prose. Nevertheless … we don’t think we could distribute enough copies to satisfy you or ourselves.”

Dr. Seuss received harsh rejection, as well: “…too different from other juveniles on the market to warrant its selling.”

Jack London heard, “(Your book is) forbidding and depressing.”

The Diary of Anne Frank, by Anne Frank, was rejected by 15 publishers before Doubleday picked it up.

As you walk away from the Wall of Rejected Greats, the weight in your chest has lightened. These are all terrific writers. And they stand in the same room you do right now.

Certainly they are frequent dwellers in the building down the street, but this building… this Club is where they, too, began. And that other building? The shiny, sparkly one you so desperately aspire to?

It’s only a few steps away.

So in the meantime, settle in with a cup of hot chocolate and enjoy the view of writers and more who have joined the Illustrious Rejection Club at one time in their career. As Joyce Spizer writes, “‘No’ is a word on your path to `Yes.’

A few weeks ago on SHADOWS FALL N FRIENDS fellow writer, C. J. Lyons and I discussed the strange process of choosing a title. When you go to your bookstore and glance at all the books vying for your attention, did you ever wonder how on earth the author narrowed one down? Roulette wheel? Drawn from a hat? Dream vision?A lot of neophyte novelists waste months sweating over a title when they haven’t even begun writing, in the misguided notion that the title alone will catch an agent’s or publisher’s attention. While it’s true that to a degree the attention factor is important, most published authors don’t sweat too much time picking one when the writing is in the early stages.

When I start a novel the title I select depicts the character question driving the novel that intrigued me in the first place. In other words, the title is the hook tied to the character arc that keeps pulling me back to the page, and eventually carries me through beginning, middle and end. Half a dozen drafts later, this handle has usually served its purpose as my tow rope from page 1 to 365; but it doesn’t necessarily work for the completed book heading off to the printers. Most seasoned writers I talk to have trouble choosing titles at this point. In the majority of cases, it’s usually the publisher or editor who steps in and, with objective experience, throws out a few suggestions, one of which nails it perfectly. When I asked C. J. Lyons how she dreamed up her titles she replied: I didn’t. I stink at titles, lol! We went through 71 with LIFELINES before a copy editor came up with that one and my title for WARNING SIGNS was originally Catalyst until the folks at
Berkley found a better one.

Yep. 71. Often a writer is too close to the completed work to be objective. An editor or publisher can view the long haul, particularly if you’re writing a series or novels carrying a signature theme. They can zero in on an impact title to link each publication and highlight recognition factor for the reader. While writing LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU, my original title was The Disappearing. When her boyfriend vanishes on a bird count up north, Brannagh finally stops running from her past and comes to terms with the people who’ve disappeared in her life. While trying to solve Nikki’s mysterious disappearance, she solves the secrets behind her mother’s murder. My publisher chose LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU which is a quote from a rhyme Brannagh and her friends chant in a childhood club. It is, ultimately, the theme of the novel; and a perfect fit. Now I can’t imagine this book being called anything else.

So when it comes to titles, try picturing Ray Kinsella from the film FIELD OF DREAMS: Just write the darn novel and eventually, though probably later than sooner, the perfect title will come.Kathy-Diane LeveilleAuthor of LET THE SHADOWS FALL BEHIND YOU (Kunati Books)

Rich and beautiful writing.- The Hamilton Spectator, Canadian Mysteries

Most writers are asked that question. Robert McKee (author of Story: Substance, Structure, Style, and the Principles of Screenwriting) talked about this question in his presentation at the Chicago RWA convention in 1999. I recently found a copy of the tape and listened to it again.

Writers watch people, McKee said. They gather material through observation, assembling characters from the bits and pieces of people around them. Sort of like Dr. Frankenstein creating his monster.

More importantly, writers find characters in themselves, because the only person they can truly know is themselves. We understand other people the more we know ourselves, because we’re all fundamentally human. McKee points out that if we are thinking it or feeling it, then others are experiencing it too. Self-knowledge is the key to all great writing.

Okay, I’ll buy all that. I don’t have one person in mind when I create a character, but I admit to putting myself into each one of my characters.

I am working on a series for Resplendence Publishing called
Bluegrass Reunions. (They thought the boys they loved were out of their lives. They were wrong.)

In KENTUCKY COWBOY, hero Judd Romeo deals with the death of his mother, much like I dealt with my mother’s death in 2004. In KENTUCKY WOMAN, heroine Alexis Marsden is a single mom, like I was once. She will do anything for her son, including marrying for convenience. Again I create a single mom heroine in KENTUCKY FLAME, this time divorced. Been there, done that! Aimee Elliott, the heroine in the yet to be written KENTUCKY BRIDE, is an only child like me.

So you can see there’s a piece of me in everything I write. Here are more details about my series from Resplendence Publishing.

KENTUCKY COWBOY— She dumped him in high school because he was a risk-taker.“Warmhearted and wonderful… Kentucky Cowboy is a keeper.” — Bestselling Author Joanne Rock
Winner—2006 PASIC Book of Your Heart Contest, Contemporary Series Romance

KENTUCKY WOMAN— She had his brother’s baby, but never forgot him.Winner—2007 San Diego RWA’s Spring Into Romance Contest
2nd place—2007 PASIC Book of Your Heart Contest, contemporary series

KENTUCKY FLAME—She had his baby, but he left not knowing the truth.Available June 2, 2009

KENTUCKY BRIDE—She can never be sure if a man loves her for herself or for her father’s millions.

As Joseph Conrad wrote to H.G. Wells in 1901: “What is all this about Jane Austen? What is there in her? What is it all about?”

I have to concur with Mr. Conrad. What is behind all the interest and excitement attached to Jane Austen especially in the past twenty years? What has led her to become to many of us our favorite author? Was she always this famous?

Jane Austen’s first published work came about in 1811 with Sense and Sensibility. At that time she was just about to turn 36 and would ultimately die only six years later. Not many people were reading her books during her lifetime as compared to now. The affluent were able to purchased her works. This included the Prince Regent, later to become King George IV, who requested that she dedicate her next novel to him (To him Emma was “respectfully dedicated.”), The slim middle class could not afford to buy her books, but they did borrow them from the popular circulating libraries. Because of this, though not world renowned, she did even as now have an enthusiastic group of supporters.

Later her works were studied in colleges and sometimes high schools, without receiving the high acclaim of great popularity. During World War II there was a renewed interest in her books due to Hollywood’s making of Pride and Prejudice in 1940 starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier. Films continued to be a driving forcing of interest in the novels. During the 1970’s and 1980’s, the English rediscovered their treasured Jane Austen. This can be seen in the many television mini-series created during this time: Persuasion (1971), Emma (1972), Pride and Prejudice (1980), Sense and Sensibility (1981), Mansfield Park (1983), and Northanger Abbey (1986).

But the real renaissance of Austen began in the mid-1990’s. 1995 was a busy year for Austen fans. Emma Thompson starred and wrote the screenplay for Sense and Sensibility in 1995. (By the way, she won the Oscar and Golden Globe for said screen play.) Persuasion starring Amanda Root and Ciaran Hinds also appeared in 1995. And of course the BBC miniseries version of Pride and Prejudice starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle also premiered in 1995. And I will have to throw this one in just for fun. Clueless starring Alicia Silverstone which was loosely based on Emma came to theaters in 1995 as well. Even People magazine admitted her notoriety when they included Jane Austen as one of the Most Intriguing People of 1995.

But it didn’t end there. 1996 brought us not one but two versions of Emma. Kate Beckinsale and Mark Strong took the leads in the BBC version and Gwyneth Paltrow and Jeremy Northam presided in the Hollywood version. Both have their good and not so good points. But they both added to the building Austen frenzy. Then Mansfield Park came along a few years later in 1999 introducing us to Frances O’Connor.

And the good news is that the Austen movie making is still growing strong. A new film version of Pride and Prejudice released to theaters in 2005, this time starring Keira Knightley and Matthew Macfadyen. The British television channel ITV produced three films based on the Austen novels in 2007: Persuasion (starring Sally Hawking and Rupert Penry-Jones), Mansfield Park (with Billie Piper and Blake Ritson), and Northanger Abbey (Felicity Jones and JJ Fields) for which we have been awaiting a remake for twenty years. And the BBC gave us a mini-series of Sense and Sensibility in 2008. And dare I even mention the two Austen bio-pics, Becoming Jane (2007) and Miss Austen Regrets (2008)?

Jane Austen may not have been as famous as Shakespeare during her lifetime, but she now seems to be coming into her own. Her works have been translated into thirty-five languages and have never been out of print. (As an author myself, I can tell you, this is a great thing!) Besides all the films being made in dedication to her books, you can also buy the Pride and Prejudice board game, Jane Austen paper dolls, and a Jane Austen action figure. Even more interesting are all the contemporary novels being written to this day as spin offs to her original texts. Here is a list of just a few: Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife and Darcy and Elizabeth by Linda Berdoll, The Diary of Henry Fitzwilliam Darcy by Marjorie Fasman, Perfect Happiness by Rachel Billington, The Third Sister by Julia Barrett, Letters from Pemberley the First Year by Jane Dawkins, Mr. Darcy’s Daughters by Elizabeth Aston, and The Jane Austen Mysteries by Stephanie Barron. My favorites are the ‘Diary’ books by Amanda Grange, the Mr. and Mrs. Darcy mysteries by Carrie Bebris, and especially the two Persasion novels by Susan Kaye.

As an author, she may have had a slow start; but Jane Austen is a force to be reckoned with today. I only wonder what she might have said about all this notoriety. I mean, during her lifetime, she saw to it that her books were authored only by “A Lady.” Put that together with what she wrote to James Clarke in 1815, “I think I may boast myself to be, with all possible vanity, the most unlearned and uninformed female who ever dared to be an authoress.” I am sure in private she probably would have had some witty, insightful, and possibly even insulting remarks about the way the world has turned out over these past two hundred years. It’s been a long time since someone came around who understood their society so well as to characterize them with as much humor, satire, and compassion. Maybe today we are ready for another such commentator. Maybe…but then again, maybe not.

Love classic literature like that of Jane Austen or a good sweet, historical romance? Then please stop by my website and read more about mine.

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Cindy K. Green is a multi-published author with degrees in History and Education. Previously a middle school English & History teacher, she now homeschools her own children and writes in several genres: Inspirational, Contemporary, Suspense, Fantasy and Historical romance. Find out more about Cindy and her books at www.cindykgreen.com and http://cindykgreen.blogspot.com/. To join her newsletter email her at newsletters@cindykgreen.com, and she will send you out all three parts of her FREE READ serial, “Valentine’s Challenge.”

Now after being gone the time that I have let me say that it is good to be back. Almost done with the thesis…can I get a what-what? lol.

So in writing the thesis and getting back to writing (thank you big man in the sky for that chance) I’ve been watching Bones. Now to some people they arent really into the show, but to this little chica-dee here, I’m all into the Fox Show

To those that don’t know, the show is about Forensic Anthropologist Temperance Brennan and Special Agent Seeley Booth. I am for one a huge fan of these two. They are yin and yang, fire and water, Bones and Booth. lol. So in watching these shows I am going through the four seasons with much delight and heavy tension building love for my two favorite characters.

There are certain shows that do it for me. You know shows that I will not miss and I dont care if I have an exam in the morning. I must watch to have my world spin oh so nicely on its cute little axis.

Here are some of mine:

a. Psyche – One word for you; pineapple. LOL.
b. Medium – Yes I believe! The best married couple on TV!
c. Bones – I am a die hard Boothie Fan!!! Long live the nerds out there! Go Brennan!
d. Burn Notice – Michael Westin has so many helpful hints lol.
e. Cold Case – Great soundtracks they use!
f. N.C.I.S – Gibbs is aweeeeesome!
g. Law and Order: Criminal Intent – How can you NOT love Gorem and Eames?
h. House – Yes he is fabulous
i. The Closer – I totally sympathize with Brenda…..and her love of sugar lol.

Do you have a show like that? Hmmm any suggestions are recommended. Currently I am trying out Harper’s Island. We shall see what the consensus on this is. Hmmmmm

Fantasy, a mental image, wondrous fancies, an imagined or conjured up sequence fulfilling a psychological need; daydream. This is what fantasy is according to Dictionary.com.

I have often been accused of living in a fantasy world—and I admit it, I do flit from one fantasy to the next. It might be that I have a maid to clean up my entire house for me, or that I have a dozen half naked, perfectly sculpted hunks pampering me with grapes, massages and whatever else I desire.

Living in a near dream state off and on throughout the day is perfect for me. Why? Because I’m an author of romance and erotic romance. The things I daydream about in my mind often make it onto paper and then into the hands of readers. I hope to take you away and into a fantasy world, where you too can be pampered by a hot hero. Or maybe you’re a feisty heroine in need of an adventure? You can be whoever you want, do whatever you want in a book.

Now that’s not to say your own life isn’t good enough. Fantasy is healthy, and those who say it isn’t are party poopers. I’m the mother of three young children, and a dog who drives me nuts. I have fun, I love my family and I love what I do, BUT I also love those nights where I curl up and escape inside a dream world.

That’s what reading is all about—escape, fantasy, even if it’s only for five minutes at a time. When I’m writing a story I try very hard to make the scenes and characters pop. I want the reader to feel like they are in the story, part of it, living it.

When I wrote my Highland Jewel series, my biggest focus was to write a fantasy that the reader could connect with and vividly see, hear, feel all that went on within the three stories. From what reviewers have said, that’s exactly what you’ll get from Warrior In A Box, Lady In A Box and Love In A Box. A steaming hot fantasy come to life. Who hasn’t daydreamed about a Highland warrior in a kilt coming to the future to sweep you off your feet, or you yourself landing in the bed of a warrior in the 17th century? I know I have and quite often! Those men in kilts, with their strong thighs, and ripped abs tantalize us with what lays beneath. Ahh…sigh…

Now that you know what my fantasy’s are, tell me a little about yours.

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Eliza Knight is the best-selling author of erotic Highlander time travel romance and historical romance with The Wild Rose Press. She is the author of the award-winning blog, History Undressed. Visit Eliza at www.elizaknight.com or www.historyundressed.blogspot.com

One thing I’ve learned is to be versatile. No matter if it is in my daily life or in my writing. Things come up in both you don’t expect and you have to know how to bend what you have planned to suit the unexpected things. For example the other day I had my dinner all planned out. I was leaving from work in my day job when I thought of what I would eat for dinner when I got home. I remembered that I had some turkey pieces in the freezer and I figured I would make that with some rice. However when I got home I opened the freezer and saw no turkey. It was then I realized I had eaten the last of it. I had my mind set on the turkey but since I didn’t have any I had to come up with an alternate. Made chicken instead and it was just as filling.

This is what I mean about being versatile. It is the same in my writing. Sometimes I have a plan in my mind how a story will go but when I write all of a sudden it changes. I’ve learned to go with the changes and let the story go where it must. Believe me when I try to stop a flow it gets me stuck. So by going with it I am able to write. More times than not it is a good flow. This is what is happening in my latest book. The story is taking me places I didn’t expect and it is a great thing. I can’t wait to see where it will go next.

By learning to listen to my versatile side I’ve experienced lots of great things.

Forever, I Do – Rosalind Fletcher has a secret. Her cakes are bewitched. When her livelihood is threatened by a wedding planner who eats a sample meant for his client, she discovers she may loose more…her heart.Buy here at Loose Id.